CAPTION: Blind actor with cerebral palsy died in LA fire as injured mum unable to help https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1878256953639436722https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-former-child-actor-dies-34438204PICTURED: Shelley Sykeshttps://x.com/shelleysykTAKEN FROM TWITTER/X (Image: Channel 10)
In a tragic turn of events, a , a disaster his mother believes was preventable.
Shelley Sykes, desperately trying to rescue her son Rory from the deadly blaze as she struggled to contact emergency services. She recounted: “He said, ‘Mum, leave me’, and no mum can leave their kid, and I’ve got a broken arm. I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him. He was my baby, and he died needlessly. Guess what didn’t work? 911. All the phone lines were down.”
She had injured her arm, making it impossible to carry her tall 6ft5 son, who was blind and suffered with celebral palsy, to safety by herself.
After a failed plea for emergency assistance over the phone, Shelley drove herself 400 metres to the nearest fire station, only to be informed they had ‘no water’. She lamented: “When the fire department brought me back, his cottage was burned to the ground.”
Her son Rory, who once graced television screens in the show Kiddy Kapers, succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning, reports .
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday (Jae C. Hong/AP) (Image: Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
While Shelley grieves, Las Virgenes Municipal Water contests her claims, stating that their water supply was consistent and reached her property and its community without interruption.
In the midst of this sorrowful narrative, Jason Oppenheim, famed for the US reality show Selling Sunset, has openly criticised landlords for taking advantage of individuals displaced by the fires.
The inferno, which commenced Tuesday just north of central LA, has demolished upwards of 12,000 structures in its path.
The reality star, who has generously offered to represent those who have lost their homes for free, disclosed that agents from the Oppenheim Group have been inundated with “received dozens and dozens of calls from people who have lost their homes in the fires”. Speaking on One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, he expressed: “It’s all hands on deck right now, but it’s really difficult because there are thousands of people who are displaced without places to stay,”
Don’t miss… [STATEMENT ]
Former Brit child star Rory Sykes died in the LA wildfires (Image: @shelleysykes/X)
He further added: “The hotels are overwhelmed all the way down to Newport Beach and even into San Diego you can’t get a hotel room right now.”
In a shocking revelation, he also exposed landlords exploiting the situation.
“I had a client, we sent him to a house that was asking 13,000 dollars (£10,600) a month. He offered 20,000 dollars (£16,400) a month, and he offered to pay six months up front. And the landlord said, ‘No, I want 23,000 dollars (18,800) a month’. You know, there are price-gouging laws in California that are just being ignored right now.”
The death toll from the wildfires has tragically risen to 16 as crews valiantly battle to halt the spreading blazes before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames towards some of the city’s most iconic landmarks.